Echoes
by Astroomis
Summary: After the shockwave of rewinding time, a former companion to the Doctor, Mia Williams, knows she is the catalyst for his future regenerations. However, the decision was not hers and Mia now confronts both herself and the Doctor as she struggles to prevent herself from becoming an echo. Brief sequel to Rewind.
1. Chapter 01: Crash

_Echoes_ will be eight chapters long and serve as the sequel instalment to my Doctor Who series _Rewind_.  
Read _Rewind_ by pasting this link into your address bar: s/9668280/1/Rewind

* * *

 _Set course for TARDIS 01: rewind to December 25, 2005.  
_ _Set course for TARDIS 02: dimension of origin upon arrival of TARDIS 01 at intended destination.  
_ _Set memory retention for Mia Williams._

Translucent figures encased in diaphanous golden light flitted about the console as the reversal began. No nefarious Dark Elements, no combat with Chameleons on the moon, no coronation for the Prince of Puklena, and no struggle against the malevolent queen Seraphim would this incarnation recall. When Donna reappeared in the TARDIS, the brunette braced herself for the rift. Her eyes lingered on his face.

 _We will not meet again for many years. When you see me again, Doctor, your face will seem aged and mine will appear as an infant. Soon, I fear our faces will no longer differ._

Sparks expelled from the smouldering console cast themselves toward her unctuous face, marked with smudges of soot. In her cranium, pulsations resumed and restored lacerations on her forearms smarted. However, the memories persisted as she dictated. Grimacing, the brunette rose with an assisting hand clutching the bannister, assessing the ghastly scene. _I am where I belong._

She hobbled toward the conflagration to utilize the controls, but with another succession of tremors, she found her face against the dais. Glass fragments crunched minutely beneath her cheek. Though fresh gouges in her hands protested, the brunette wasted no time in sitting upright. _I hope we have substantial distance between us now._ Duplicate TARDISes within the scope of a single universe might produce perilous fluctuations. _Could damage to my TARDIS been the catalyst for the initial fusion? Perhaps the flames destroyed most, if not all, Huon energy in my TARDIS. If so, she needed another source and likely sought it, regardless of the fact it rested in another dimension._

A sudden lurch and her jaw collided with the console. From her peripheral vision, she glimpsed winking emergency lights. Alarmed, she raised herself from the console on her elbows and grasped the screen, which read: _Collision with vacant planet Zr89-nK in ten seconds._ Did the lure of Huon energy hamper her return?

Ten seconds was too little time to initiate any preventative action, but she attempted nonetheless. Moments before she became unconscious, the TARDIS pitched with a steep motion and the momentum hurled Mia Williams against the console.


	2. Chapter 02: Regeneration

**TW: blood/gore  
**

* * *

Mia became mindful of severe injuries her body sustained during the accident as she tremulously attempted to stand.

Excruciating pangs coursed along the length of her left tibia when presented with even the slightest motion or applied weight. Upon closer inspection, Mia found the fractured bone gored her calf. Coagulated blood surrounded the compound fracture and crimson glistened afresh in the wound.

 _It feels as though I broke every bone in my body._ "But I can still walk," the brunette proclaimed between wheezes. "See? I'm fine." Thoughts addled and vision fogged, Mia staggered toward the console. Pain honed her resolve; it seemed present in each hissing breath.

 _Did I break ribs? Might I have punctured a lung?_ She coughed into the crook of her elbow. _I only recall bashing my head on the console._ Instinctively, Mia brushed a hand across her brow, then stared at the crimson smear across her fingertips the action produced. _What else?_ Dread reared its ugly head.

"I need medical treatment," she asserted, suppressing those unpleasant thoughts, though they lurked near the surface. At least the puncture wound on her stomach – sustained from an encounter with the Shadow King – seemed absent after the rewind.

Another faltering step toward a raised cleft in the dais and another hissing breath. _Will I ever reach the console?_ Mia wondered when she coughed into her right hand and noticed droplets of blood there. _Can I…?_ The distance seemed to stretch eternal, even as her eyes lost focus. Though she felt faint, she sensed her knees buckle and the sensation of falling as the darkness swallowed her again.

* * *

Mia recognized her surroundings despite the suffocating darkness. Against the presumed horizon, she saw the golden tendrils. Dozens of eyes bored into her shoulders and back. With a sigh, Mia turned to realise them. "It's time, isn't it?" Voice thick with emotion, she addressed all previous incarnations of the Doctor. Their translucent forms scintillated with golden light. Among the sea of faces, she spotted the incarnation with whom she recently travelled and the incarnation whose appearance was identical to her Doctor in an alternate universe. His grey-green eyes shone with identical vivacity and Mia felt she knew him all the same.

Without warning, the most recent incarnation stepped forward. "This body of mine – it sustained too much damage." Her voice quavered as she surveyed his wizened face, meeting his sunken green eyes. "I have no other choice. There isn't a way out."

Pity surfaced in his expression. "I fear you may be right dear," he murmured. "You lost quite a bit of blood and and took her hands soothingly in her own, as a father might. "But believe me: what I told you earlier was true – you'll never die. Even after the next regeneration, there will always be some part of you… an echo, I suppose, that lingers. That is your gift for your sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Mia scoffed. "I never chose this." Her hand flew to her mouth as tears welled in the corners of her eyes. _I don't want to choose death. So few people want to die, to lose themselves to the great unknown. But others destined sacrifice for me. They never suspected this difficult choice._

"You won't die," the elderly incarnation assured. "You may lose some parts of you, but the majority will remain intact."

"It won't be the same," she insisted. "I must accept my life as others shaped it for me. I bear your burden because I must. I…" her voice faltered "…my life was always linked to yours anyway."

The Doctor smiled. With a gasp, Mia recognised that the incarnations behind him liquefied into golden essence and congealed into a sphere. Astounded, she failed to notice the elderly incarnation liquefy until his essence floated past her and fused with the sphere.

 _Touch it._ Whispers intoned within her mind as the sphere neared her. _Touch it._

Mia extended an arm. No sooner than her fingertips grazed its radiant surface, she woke.

Golden light encased her form. Acute pain engulfed Mia Williams as the cells in her body began to rewrite themselves.


	3. Chapter 03: Aftermath

**Chapter 03**

 **A/N:** I rewrote this chapter multiple times and ultimately decided on a compare-contrast style. To prevent confusion, the character referred to as "Mia" is the new female incarnation of the Doctor come out of the regeneration in the previous chapter while the character referred to as "the Doctor" is the so-called elderly incarnation from the previous chapter.

* * *

Wood splintered and rock cracked. Clouds of dust, disturbed by a wobbling blue box, loitered above the narrow trench it carved into the yellow earth. About a hundred metres after impact, the box slue to the left and keeled backward before promptly halting. After a long moment, a dilapidated door swung open, an action that loosed billows of smoke.

Mia stared up at an indigo sky marbled with celadon. An amorphous moon that reflected yellow-white light hovered overhead. An orange-red sun hugged the paler horizon. The expanse swam before her eyes; the distant planets duplicated themselves. What made up this planet's atmosphere? Was it nitrogen? Argon? Fingers groped for some object to support her sagging weight; heavy breaths came from her parted lips. Darkness fringed her vision, then engulfed it.

* * *

 _Darkness enfolded all nearby objects. The Doctor started and scrambled to his feet. Water lapped at his calves. Most of his body, from his toes to his shoulders, tingled as what little warmth there was in the air began to thaw the coldness of submersion. Once able to flex his fingers, the Doctor probed his body with his hands. What hand had regeneration dealt this time? A square jawline and short legs, from what he could feel. These were only minor details, of course, and could be examined later. Wholeness was satisfactory for the time being. The Doctor strained his eyes against the stifling dark. Light, faint enough for the Doctor to wonder whether he imagined it or not, throbbed within the heart of the TARDIS. Its golden glow guided his gaze to the console which slanted forward. Panels and controls vanished below the water's surface. As the Doctor slogged toward the console, the entire area released a sudden, metallic creak. The Doctor lurched forward, clutching at the console as the TARDIS continue to sink sideways into the mud. His hand slipped and he plunged below the surface._

* * *

"Only a metre down," Mia muttered as she clambered from the TARDIS and planted the soles of her shoes on its blue frame. Crumbling layers of soil enclosed her time machine on three sides. "Up's the way out, then."

Her forehead puckered as she surveyed her surroundings. The turbulent landing created crude ledges. Each ledge appeared shallow, enough to grip with her fingertips. _Perhaps it'll hold my weight._

Mia positioned herself, then launched upward. Soil crumbled as she did so. Mia clawed onward with bent fingers whilst her feet churned against the soft earth. Moments passed as hours might during the gruelling climb. Mia emerged, panting, from the hole and crawled onto the surface where she promptly slumped onto her left side. Already, the adrenaline sapped; pain ignited below her clogged fingernails and across her cut hands. Mia stared into the dark sky in an attempt to disregard the pain. Bright stars glittered overhead. _Either this planet is vacant or it's got primitive inhabitants._ Disheartened by the prospect, Mia propped herself upright so as to survey her surroundings.

Around her stretched a barren wilderness. All colour appeared muted beneath the rimed surface cast by the stars' glow. Craggy hills disrupted the distant horizon. Yellow-white tinted waves rippled across a large body of water.

A sudden gust of wind blew hair into her eyes. Mia brushed the strands clear and squinted against the dust it stirred. White-hot flame ruptured from the landing thrusters of a descending spacecraft. She shielded her eyes as the small craft delicately alighted on the surface. Mia scrambled to her feet and fumbled in her jeans pocket for her sonic screwdriver. Green light appeared as the device activated; it whirred as the craft's exterior hatch opened with an audible _click_ and subsequent rotation. First emerged a tall and imposing figure clad in a navy spacesuit emblazoned with gold-coloured patches and text. Only a moment later, the astronaut unholstered some variety of blaster and trained the barrel on her chest.

Mia raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. This also meant she dropped her sonic screwdriver, lest the astronaut consider it a weapon. "There's no need for that," she assured, staring down the astronaut. The tinted visor concealed the face from view but Mia suspected the astronaut either barked orders at her or asked their supervisor what to do. "I don't really do weapons, you know. Never have." Three other astronauts exited the craft after the first. "I don't pose a threat to you. Not at all. No weapons, you see, because I don't do weapons. But I already told you that, didn't I?"

One astronaut with six arms trained another weapon on her. One astronaut emerged from the rear and directed the laser beam of a scanner at Mia. When the magenta beam retracted and the screen changed, that astronaut started and glanced sidelong at their companions. The two armed astronauts holstered their weapons and stepped forward. "You two," Mia commanded with a sweeping gesture toward the advancing astronauts, "stop it." All her limbs felt weightless, perhaps even non-existent. Mia glanced down to verify all her limbs still functioned and when she looked up, an entire horde of astronauts marched toward her. "I said, 'STOP IT!'" she bellowed and repeated the command. With each word, her voice grew hoarser. Her body swayed until her knees buckled. All the astronauts rushed toward Mia.

* * *

 _The Doctor surfaced with a forceful gasp. Droplets of water scattered as his arms flailed. More water flooded into the control room. Sickly green lights flickered on; their activation indicated an emergency. Now, the Doctor better realized the extent of the damage. Two walls, the front and the left, featured a gaping hole with serrated edges. This had allowed water to enter the console area. This also meant the only exits were submerged. The Doctor waded over to the wound and then crouched down. He had no choice but to swim through. Metal creaked again; he would surely drown unless he escaped. He was lucky to have received a second regeneration cycle millennia ago, but being now on the end of it now meant death if he made so much as a misstep._

 _The Doctor plunged below the dark water, holding his breath as he swam with wide strokes through hole. Once clear of the splinters, he surfaced again. Mud squelched between his fingers as he pushed down for leverage to stand. The Doctor wrung out his dirtied hands, then turned his attention to the mostly submerged TARDIS. It needed to be righted. Grunts came from between clenched teeth as the Doctor pushed against the TARDIS with both hands. This would prove itself a lengthy predicament, he realised, when his shoes slipped in the mire and he fell against the TARDIS. Still, he resolved to accomplish his goal and heaved the TARDIS again, this time with his right shoulder. Three more attempts, two of which failed, ensued before the blue box shifted into the desired position. It tilted forward still, but it would have to suffice. "Yes, the damage is –" He muttered as he re-entered the interior of the TARDIS. The sight blurred. His words slurred as he gestured widely to the console. "– mendable, old girl." Everything came back into focus. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Lights. Can't see without 'em." He exclaimed and emphatically walked toward an interior set of double doors._

* * *

"Doctor, can you hear me?" Between blinks, a woman's russet face faded in and out of view. Thin brows knitted together as the woman surveyed Mia. Worry darkened her eyes, though her green-painted eyelids already drooped. Dark circles rimmed the underside of both eyes, as though she'd not slept in several days.

"My name is Mia," she insisted whilst shifting backward so as to sit rather than lie down. "At least, I think it's Mia. Yes, Mia Williams. That sounds right."

A tall man scoffed from where he leaned against a set of panels. "What'd I tell ya? She isn't the Doctor."

"Do you doubt what the scanner has told us?" declared a third voice. Mia saw a small creature with dark red reptilian scales studded with ruby growths. Tattoos adorned its face and tail. "The scanner does not lie."

Mia felt her heartbeat accelerate. "What did your scanner say?"

"The scanner," explained the woman, "registered you as a Time Lord. And the only Time Lord that really interacts with humans is the Doctor." A smile spread across her face. "Not to mention the sonic screwdriver Halden you dropped."

"Ah, damning evidence, that." Mia stood and then proffered her hand to the woman who had knelt beside her. For a moment, the woman stared up at her with round eyes. Her head then shook slightly and she allowed Mia to pull her up. "So, yes, I suppose I am the Doctor."

"My name's Mae Sarkar," the woman spoke first.

"Halden," inputted the scaly alien with a flick of her broad tail.

"Charlie Kerr," muttered the tall man.

A new voice resounded from behind Mia. _Zemith the Just._ She recognised his race at once. With an average of six arms per individual, wet skin, and no facial features, the Kotrith were perhaps the most prominent species hailing from the Andromeda Galaxy.

Mia curled her two arms in her best imitation of a Kotrithian gesture of respect. _Zemith the Just. You must be a son of Chi'ith the Lawgiver, the most honoured ruler of the Kotrith._

 _My most excellent father sent me._ Zemith responded with a cordial nod. _We search for a fugitive last reported here by a group of tourists headed toward this planet. They were assaulted and robbed, then murdered by one of our own gone astray: Utriar the Bloodied._

"Hey, they've rigged up a device for you," Kerr growled. "Why don't ya use it? I won't allow any secrets here."

"I know about Utriar the Bloodied," Mia delivered each word hesitantly. "He murdered millions."

" _Yes. About two weeks ago, he escaped a Kotrithian prison._ " Zemith sounded different now. The device modulated his voice, clipping words. " _They transported him back from the first day of trial. He will strike again, and so we intervene._ "

"What plans do you have to capture him?"

Kerr snorted. "Who said anything about capture? I'll shoot the bastard on sight."

" _We do not want to stoop to his level_." Zemith arched his back in a display of aggression.

Mae turned to Mia. "Our plan is to advance, then corner Utriar." Mia's eyebrows knitted together. Mae elaborated, "We are not alone. We are but one of four search parties – three on the ground and one in the air. This planet is almost ninety percent water. Most of the remaining percentage is vast desert, but some of it is dense forest. I know he's hiding there to escape satellite detection." There was a note of certainty in her voice. "I doubt he saw any of our craft land."

"I dunno," Kerr grumbled. "Maybe he saw _Mia's_ box leave a scar in the ground."

Mae rolled her eyes. "If Utriar had seen the TARDIS crash, he surely would have come to investigate by now."

"Perhaps he thinks it's a trap!" Kerr retorted as he crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air.

Zemith stepped between the quarrelling parties. " _Enough_." He turned his head toward Mia. " _Mae is right. Uith is the most arrogant Kotrithian I know. He prides himself on his bloodlust. He wants to escape and continue to rape, kill, and rob. He will hide in the forest._ "

* * *

 _Past the double doors stretched a hallway lined with more doors. The Doctor peeked into each room. "Somewhere around here's a swimming pool," he mumbled as he shut a dark brown wooden door. "Plenty of good lights in that one, as I recall." One door, painted pale pink, opened into a gossamer bedroom with white and gold décor. Another door opened into a bedroom filled with mismatched furniture. Still another door opened into an expansive room lined with historical costumes. The Doctor reached the end of the hallway where a glass door and three adjacent glass windows presented a view of the swimming pool. Already, he saw the lights he'd hoped for. Orange orb lights rested on plain white sconces on the wall farthest from the glass door. A red paper lantern rested on a wooden end table. After the Doctor entered the pool area, he unscrewed the sconces from the wall and snatched up the paper lantern. He then trotted back to the console, sconces tucked under his left arm, and ducked through the splintery opening. He held the paper lantern aloft. Its golden glow showed him the curving cavern walls. The Doctor waded over and mounted the sconces onto the sheer walls. Now, the entire cavern was visible. Wooden blue fragments from the TARDIS floated on the surface of the muddy water. It seemed as though an object exploded inside the TARDIS. It seemed irreparable, contrary to his previous belief._

* * *

"We came under cover of night," Kerr explained. Like a petulant child, he pointed at Mia. "But _you_ delayed our plans."

" _The other parties are waiting,_ " Zemith reminded. As a telepathic being, Zemith emitted the emotions he felt. Despite his computerized voice, Mia felt his tempered sympathy for her. Time Lords and Kotrithians had an extensive history, she knew. About five incarnations before, she had met his father. " _How soon can you be ready?_ " Zemith abandoned the device for a moment, prepared to discuss a more intimate topic. _The scanner informed us that your body recently released high quantities of energy. I know that means you regenerated._

 _I'm fine now._ Mia responded, eager to repress the memory of her agonising regeneration.

Kerr, meanwhile, pivoted on his heel to face Mia. "Suit up," he ordered, thrusting a suit into her hands. Zemith had not included him in the conversation, though he seemed to ignore the question Zemith posed earlier. "Utriar might get free if we keep dawdling."

"Hold on a minute. Humans like you and Mae can breathe this atmosphere – it's similar enough to Earth's – which means these are weaponized."

Kerr rolled his eyes and released an exaggerated sigh. "Do you want to get yourself killed? Ever heard of _protection_?" his voice deepened into a sneering taunt. "We're dealing with a dangerous fugitive!" He whirled on Mae. "This is exactly what I told you, isn't it? The Doctor didn't come here to help us, she came because she wants to put on the hero act. Isn't that right?"

Mia frowned. His words bothered something within her but failed to provoke her. _If you knew what just happened, I suppose you wouldn't consider me a hero._ "I crash landed here," Mia explained as she unlaced her trainers and kicked them off. "Meeting all of you was pure coincidence." She pulled the spacesuit over her clothes. "And I'll help – because that's what I do." _That's no lie. Whether Doctor or companion, I always wanted to help._

" _We are grateful for all the help we can receive_ ," Zemith said. His head turned as though he surveyed his crew. Mia knew he could sense their locations based on their consciousness alone. " _We must all discard our differences. Our task is to capture Utriar the Bloodied. Justice should be dealt by the interplanetary council and no being else. Kerr, please contact our partners. Tell them we are ready to leave if they are._ "

* * *

 _Eyes flitted from the blueprint, to the manual, then to the damage. After much assessment, the Doctor determined the damage to the TARDIS was irreparable. He had hauled out a dusty desk into the cavern and created a type of office for himself. He had tacked up the blueprints and manual to the cavern wall. He had created sketches that depicted the extent of the damage and tacked those up as well. Now, there was only one option left._

* * *

After an arduous trek across the flat terrain, the party reached the edge of the forest. Still farther in the distance loomed the craggy yellow hills Mia saw earlier. What humans might consider the equivalent of trees stood like columns of coral. Each top divided into draping stems that ended in silver buds. Both the stems and the bud were armed with white spines. Green moss carpeted the forest floor.

" _Halden and Kerr, scout together. Doctor and Mae, scout together_."  
"We'll head left," Kerr offered no sooner than Zemith gave the command.

Sudden movement registered in Mia's peripheral as Halden raised her head. "We are already on the forest's left edge."  
Mae shrugged in reply but said, "The Doctor and I will go right, then."

" _Good luck, all of you._ " Zemith said before he strode away into the undergrowth.

"You heard the man. Let's get going." Kerr beckoned for Halden to follow. They disappeared amidst the foliage after a few steps, and Mia and Mae stood alone in the alien forest.

"Are you ready?" Mae spoke after a moment of silence.

"Of course," Mia responded. She hoped her voice did not betray her lack of confidence. She could not remember whether or not Utriar the Bloodied had successfully evaded conviction. Were these parties fated to die?

Mae stepped back. "Go on ahead. I thought you might like to lead."  
Mia blinked but entered a trail meandering through the dense forest.

* * *

 _Before his eyes, the TARDIS crystal glistened. All the machinery groaned, and the Doctor straightened up. "Sorry, old girl, but it seems you can't heal yourself this time around." He bolted toward the opening and into the water as the interior dimension collapsed. It detonated behind him. Shards of wood and metals shot past him. The TARDIS ejected all its contents. In the tumult, the cavern roof began to cave. Fine grey dust and stones rained down around him. All the while, the Doctor clung to the TARDIS crystal. It was his only hope of escape._

* * *

Silence stretched on for some time as Mia and Mae tiptoed along the narrow path. Mia brushed aside draping fronds. _It's really quite remarkable how diverse the flora is here._

"Zemith said this planet was a tourist destination?" she glanced over her shoulder as she whispered her question.

Mae furrowed her brow. Mia repeated her question. Understanding rounded Mae's dark eyes. "Yes. From what I hear, the liquid pyrite seas are quite the spectacle this time of year."

"I suppose that's how all these foreign plants got here."  
Mae suppressed a laugh. "Of course. The invasive species also attract some tourists…" Her shoulders stiffened and her neck went erect. "Did you hear that?"

In the subsequent silence, Mia heard a faint shriek.

"Utriar!" someone shouted into the radio.

"This way!" Mia departed from the path and bolted in the direction of the sound. Stems and vines slapped against her face and limbs as she crashed through the undergrowth. Mae remained two steps behind, her breath hot against the back of Mia's neck.

The situation became obvious once Mia and Mae exploded from between the wide, veined leaves of ground-growing plant. Utriar clung to a bone-white plant with his left four arms. His top right arm impaled a small plantoid from another rescue party. Its partner trained a gun on Utriar.


	4. Chapter 04: Identity

**Chapter 04**

 **A/N:** Author's note from the previous chapter still applies.

TW: blood and gore

* * *

Utriar snatched the gun and clasped the surviving plantoid with his remaining two arms with ease.

"Put him down, Utriar!" Mia ordered whilst staring up at the Kotrithian criminal.

Cackles erupted inside her mind. One arm tightened around the plantoid's throat. Mia heard _clatters_ from behind as Mae unholstered her blaster. Mae's effort was futile, however. Only a moment later, the small being slackened in his asphyxiating grasp. Utriar promptly released both corpses. They landed with a sickening _thud_ on the blanket of moss below as Utriar clambered from view. Leaves and buds rustled as he bounded from branch to branch.

"We've found – found him - Utriar," Mae gasped into a portable radio. "He's headed west – no, south, sorry – now." Mia saw the flash of her eye whites as she glanced toward the area where Utriar disappeared. "Murdered – murdered a team of two from party two. Requesting backup before engaging in pursuit."

"Headed your way now with Halden," Kerr responded immediately. For all his aggression toward Mia, she respected his quickness.

" _He's in the canopy._ " confirmed a computerized voice that sounded similar to Zemith. Another Kotrithian assigned to this mission, then. " _I see him and will follow."_

* * *

 _Days became weeks, and weeks became months as the Doctor waited for the TARDIS crystal to reach maturity. His boredom compounded by the day. Damp furniture floated in the muddy water. He had no use for it now. Once the TARDIS grew, he could redecorate, but not before then. He did not want to become comfortable in this strange environment._

 _Sometimes, he painted with supplies recovered from the wreckage. These paintings depicted all his previous incarnations and their companions. He even painted a portrait of himself. Once done, he hung them on a narrow corridor leading into the cavern._

 _The space still seemed bare though. He wrote words in his native tongue on the walls. He painted the TARDIS as it was before the wreck. Once the paint supply ended, he resorted to building models of his blue box with its remains._

 _He often felt as though he reached the boundaries of his sanity._

* * *

They cornered Utriar as dawn paled the horizon. He had dispatched another team of two about a minute ago. Now, his seven arms hurtled toward his nine remaining foes. Zemith and the two Kotrithians assigned to the other parties barricaded the others. Kerr, Halden, and two sentient AIs seized the opportunity to open fire upon Utriar. Acidic orange blood oozed from the cavities created across his pale grey skin. Primal howls erupted inside Mia's mind; the brutish Kotrithian reeled.

Pain, however, provided new resolve. Utriar twisted one of his fellow Kotrithian's arms; Mia heard the _snap_ of bones and the _rip_ of tendons. As Utriar cast the Kotrithian aside to free one of his arms, the force severed the fragile arm. Blood jetted from the wound; Mae wailed and clasped her hands over her eyes. Utriar wrenched one arm free of the second Kotrithian and knocked over the line of their comrades with his free arm. The Kotrithian criminal then proceeded to strangle the second Kotrithian.

Kerr helped Halden stand. "That's it!" he snarled as his grip on the blaster tightened. "If Zemith gets it, we're good as dead. We've got to end this!" Kerr gestured for Halden and the AIs to encircle Utriar, who now wrangled with Zemith.

"No!" Mia shrieked. Halden halted while Kerr and the AIs sprinted onward. "Don't do it!" The brunette fumbled in her pockets for her sonic screwdriver so as to disable their spacesuits, but it was too late. Utriar struck with his three free arms. Both AIs became piles of metal and screws after they collided with trees. As for Kerr, Utriar impaled him. Blood spattered the faces of Mia, Halden, and Mae below.

"Retreat!" Halden screeched. "This is a battle we cannot win!"

Zemith refused to surrender. Unmatched, Utriar tackled Zemith. The Kotrithian prince landed with a _thud_ on his left side. Utriar clawed at Zemith's spacesuit. Mae stared despairingly at Mia, who did not need the telepathic powers of a Kotrithian to know her thoughts. _The universe needs you to be the Doctor._

Mae fired a single shot from her blaster and Utriar roared. He turned and lunged toward Mae. Mia sprang between them. "Utriar!" she shouted as she waved her arms wildly above her head. "Have I got your attention now? Don't you think you deserve a better opponent?" Utriar failed to respond, but how he craned his neck assured Mia that she caught his attention. "Do you know the worst force to be reckoned with in this universe? I'll give you a hint: it's an angry Time Lord." She smirked. "And one's standing right in front of you. This fight is between us now, Utriar the Bloodied. Lay so much as a hand on her," here, she gestured toward Mae, "Halden, or Zemith the Just again and you _will_ know why the Daleks call me the Oncoming Storm."

Chuckles erupted in Mia's mind after the speech concluded. That was not the response she intended to evoke. _Brave words for one so small. I shall heed your request, though. It will be fun to kill the last of the Time Lords._  
"I won't make it easy for you, though. I'm fresh off regeneration. I can fight twice as hard, run twice as fast, and do thing that wouldn't otherwise be possible for my species. So come and get me, Utriar!" Mia plunged into the undergrowth. Thundering footsteps resounded close behind her.

* * *

 _His wait ended. The TARDIS renewed itself. Of course it would be that basic silver cylinder again! He slid open the door and tentatively stepped inside. White lights switched on around the console. It too reflected the basic interface. This awakened some nostalgia within him. He stepped closer to the centre of the room. Palms brushed the silvery veneer of the console; the Doctor glimpsed a partial reflection of his face. Wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. His wrinkled hands ghosted over his face. This marked the beginning of the adventures of his last incarnation, and he was already so close to death._

* * *

Brambles ripped her navy spacesuit.

 _They don't need anyone else. Humans are ephemeral. They need an ancient being who provides hope. They need an ancient being to protect them against the dangers of the universe._

Rank breath fanned against the back of her neck. Mia burst through the arcing boughs of a small plant and onto the seashore. Her feet found less traction among the rocks.

With nowhere to run, Mia faced Utriar. Already, the hulking Kotrithian backed her toward the edge of the liquid pyrite sea. _I heard that the Time Lords are a great race of warriors,_ Utriar growled. _One of the best in the universe._

"I'm afraid I'm not quite like them," Mia explained. One of her feet was submerged; she glanced back at it.

 _That's right,_ Utriar lowered his faceless head so that he seemed eye-level with Mia. _You're more like me. I heard how you ran after what you did during the Time War._

"That was a long time ago. And I'm done running now."

A shadow fell first over Utriar, then Mia. Zemith wrapped all six of his arms around Utriar's neck and wrestled the criminal to the ground. Another shadow appeared, this one much larger than the one Zemith cast. Mia glanced up; an aerial craft descended. Utriar pushed himself upward, an explosive movement that loosed Zemith's grip, and bolted toward the forest. As he did so, however, a small device plummeted from the underside of the aircraft and landed between his shoulder blades. Spines of electricity vibrated around Utriar as he collapsed in convulsing fit. Once the escapee appeared incapacitated, net of thick, braided stainless steel cords wound around Utriar. The aircraft then landed and three AIs emerged. Zemith assisted them as they transferred Utriar into a cage inside the craft.

As the aircraft arose, Halden, Mae, and the injured Kotrithian emerged from the forest. Zemith addressed her. _Thank you, Doctor. My people owe you a great debt for your help today._

Mia bowed her head. _No, thank you. Tell your father that the Doctor suggests you receive a new title that reflects your courage._ A smile spread across her face. Without Zemith, all of them would surely be dead, as she had feared.

 _I will._ Zemith assured, then turned to call out greetings toward the approaching survivors.

Mae approached. Though her feet dragged as she walked, her eyes no longer seemed dark with despair but instead seemed to shine with renewed hope. "Thank you," Mae said. Her smile flashed white in the sunlight, a stark contrast to the golden glow beneath her skin. "For saving my life, I mean."

Her thoughts echoed in Mia's mind. _The universe needs you to be the Doctor._

"I try my best to prevent people from dying." Mia thought her voice sounded grave. "And you really were brilliant. For trusting me to do something, I mean." She released a weak laugh. "I know I didn't live up to anyone's expectations." Silence stretched on between the women. Mae spoke. "You'd just regenerated, I can tell."

"That's no excuse," Mia countered.

"You'll have to do better next time. Let the memory of the dead engrave your conscious."

Silence again.

"Do you know anyone who can pull my TARDIS out of the ground?"

"Our spaceship has a hook," Halden inputted. "How much does your ship weigh?"  
"I don't know." Mia grasped at numbers that rested in the cobwebbed corners of her mind. _Nothing._  
"We'll try anyway," Mae promised as Halden sighed.

"You're all more than welcome to look inside too. But I'm afraid I can't offer much beyond that. There's some – business that I must attend to. Urgent business – before the crash landing."

She could not form the words, _I'm a fusion of an unwilling human girl and the ancient Doctor. My human family is stranded in an alternate dimension, and I need to rescue them._

Mae bit her lip. "Maybe we'll see you again?"

Mia forced a smile. "Maybe." Mae's eyes glistened with tears. Becoming a companion must have been a dream of hers. "You humans do a great deal of exploration and colonisation. In the vastness of the universe, perhaps we'll all meet again."


	5. Chapter 05: Promise

With a distinctive sound and flashes of white light, the TARDIS materialised. Grace Williams gasped and dropped the vegetables she had harvested. Moments passed and as the door opened, she remained kneeling in the garden. _It can't be!_ Yet it was. Though her hair appeared noticeably lighter despite the morning's grey cast, Grace recognised her eldest daughter. _Has she been travelling with this universe's Doctor?_ Grace expected the blue box to disappear, but it remained parked there. _Something bad's happened._ Grace trembled to think what came next. _Has he died?_

 _And is that Mia anymore?_ she wondered. Mia tended to appear slightly hunched and with her eyes lowered to the ground; the woman before Grace stood now with shoulders slightly squared and chin raised. Perhaps most telling to Grace was the darkness that haunted her stare and made her eyes seem sunken. _I've seen it before – the Doctor – he'd look like that sometimes._ Guilt was like a sword plunged through her still beating heart. _So it's happened, then._

"I know everything," the Doctor called after she drew the door quietly shut behind her. "What you did." Her words dwindled into a long sigh; her shoulders sank. _She looks almost like Mia again._ Grace sank down onto her elbows and clasped her hands around her neck. Fingernails dug into the soft flesh as sobs wracked her body. _I was so selfish, all those years ago. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

A cold hand touched her exposed arm. Grace Williams raised her head. "I know how it is to look death in the eyes and be willing to do anything to avert it," the Doctor murmured; her pale eyes glistened. Silence pressed upon their eardrums. Both were aware of the emotional torrent within the other, but Grace found her throat too tight to speak. "I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. Can you call Dad and Olivia?"

 _Does she still think of us as family?_ The Doctor stood and offered a hand. Grace pushed upward as the Doctor pulled; her knees _popped_ as she stood. "We kept the TARDIS in the shed," Grace reported as she brushed dark soil from her wispy brown hair. "It seems full-grown now." _Surely she'll want to know that._

The Doctor nodded, then hurried toward the weathered grey-brown shed. Grace headed toward the rickety house she and her husband shared. _He won't be here now._ He worked as a travel agent in the nearest city, a demotion after having worked at Torchwood for seven years in their home universe. But their youngest daughter, Olivia, was home. As a part-time college student with a part-time retail job, Olivia rarely returned home for more than sleep and a few meals. _It's a miraculous coincidence that the Doctor returned during her break._

Grace ascended the crooked wooden steps, then tiptoed across the mouldy grey-brown porch to the front door. Its brick red paint peeled away from the white surface below. Grace twisted the tarnished brass doorknob, and the door opened with an audible _creak_. _What will I say to her?_ Grace entered the narrow corridor; before her loomed the steps that ascended to the upstairs where both Mia and Olivia had their rooms.

"Mum? Is that you?" Olivia craned her neck around her bedroom door. Her eyes still seemed bleary with sleep. "Are you headed to the store later on?"

"What do you need?" Grace called back.

"You know…"

"I can't hear you. Come down here and tell me."  
Olivia moaned but shuffled from her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her. She approached Grace; her feet landed with a pronounced _thud_ on each faded white step as she descended. No sooner than she reached the base of the staircase, the front door opened behind Grace and the Doctor stepped inside.

"Who's this?"

"A friend." The Doctor responded as she stepped forward to stand at Grace's side. Grace glanced over her shoulder, then chided herself for doing so. _You can't expect to see how much Mia cares for Olivia in those eyes._ "Why don't you call Jacob?" The Doctor turned toward Grace and spoke in hushed tones.

Olivia's dark eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "What the hell's going on here?"

 _You'll see._ Grace wanted to assuage the obvious consternation her daughter displayed. _The Doctor will show you._

"Come with me," the Doctor beckoned Olivia to stand forward. "There's something outside I think you should see."

Olivia folded her arms. "No," she scowled; the bridge of her nose wrinkled. "Not until you explain what's going on."

Grace stared helplessly at the Doctor. _I can't escape the truth anymore._ She opened her mouth to begin a long-winded explanation, but the Doctor intercepted. "O, I'm what's left of your sister."

Olivia said nothing, merely blinked and backed away. Her hands clutched at the bannister behind her. "You're not my sister!" shrieked the blonde. Tears glistened in the whites of her wide eyes, which became steadily redder.

"Some part of her is!" Grace grasped Olivia by the shoulders. "Your father and I travelled the universe. There was an – an accident and we became stranded in this reality. Our guide, the Doctor, was on the verge of death. _I_ chose to seal him into your sister's body so that we could return home someday when she died and he was loosed."

Olivia wrenched free from her mother's grasp. "You let my sister _die_?!"

"I can never hope to atone for what I've done," Grace said as she stared at the floorboards. Coldness stretched from her fingertips to her toes as a great emptiness swallowed her insides.

"Would you have _killed_ my sister to get home?" Olivia scrambled backward up the stairs.

 _Of course she wants to get as far from me as possible._

"No," the Doctor interrupted, "they were willing to never return home if it meant me living until the moment I died of old age." Grace straightened up and stared at the Doctor. _Why's she defending me now?_ "I sent myself to an early grave. I found the alternate version of the Doctor because I wanted answers – so I travelled with him. There was an incident and I returned to our home universe and discovered the truth, but I was injured badly on the way back to this reality. The Doctor regenerated." Olivia sank to her knees with soft sobs. Grace stepped forward to comfort her youngest daughter, but the Doctor barred the way with an outstretched arm. "Mia Williams is dead, but her memories live on through me." Olivia raised her head. "Get away from me," she choked out. "Both of you."

"I promised that I would return them home if I regenerated before their death. I want to bring them home now, but you were born here, Olivia. You may come with them or you may stay here."

"Go with them?" Olivia scoffed. "After what they've done?" Her hazel eyes, which seemed almost green against her beet-red face, glared daggers at her mother. _I deserve it. No amount of apologies can fix this._

The Doctor stooped to whisper something into Olivia's ear. Grace did not want to hear the exchange and shuffled into the kitchen. Laying screen-down against the cold granite countertop was her mobile phone. Grace picked it up and scrolled through her contacts list until she found her husband's name, then pressed the dial button. Three rings later, Jacob Williams answered. "Come home," Grace said in a brittle voice. "The Doctor's here." She then removed the mobile from her ear and ended the call.

Time passed in a peculiar fashion; what took mere minutes felt like hours. Grace remained frozen after she contacted her husband and found she could not move even when she heard the _creak_ of the front door as it opened. Voices drifted from the foyer. Jacob stepped through the archway into the kitchen. "Grace?"

At the sound of his voice, she became more aware. "Olivia won't come with us."  
"She isn't." Jacob sounded dejected, but not surprised. "Well, she's lived here her whole life. Why should she go anywhere else? But she'll be safe here."

"No," Grace croaked. "She's not coming because of _me_." Staticky silence rang in her ears for a moment; Grace then finished, "I destroyed this family twenty-five years ago." All the tension in her neck and shoulders released and she slumped forward.  
Jacob rushed to his wife and clasped her hands in his. "You've not destroyed _anything_. We did what was necessary."

"But it wasn't the right thing to do."

"It was." Jacob and the Doctor spoke simultaneously.

Grace raised her head and drew one hand free so as to brush a few tickling strands of hair from her face, but found she also wiped tears away. "Stop. Just stop it." The Doctor opened her mouth to speak, but Grace proceeded, "Once it'd been done, I knew it couldn't be retracted." Here, she sighed. "No matter how much I wanted to." Grace could picture the disappointed eyes of her regal mother and absentee father. "I'd repeated history."

"Every decision made in the past and present echo around us. They will affect what happens now as well as what happens in the future. So what will you do with those echoes?" the Doctor prompted. "If you find them unsatisfactory, will you create new ones or wallow in the suffering they created?"

Hope stirred within Grace. "Create new ones."

"Good." The Doctor grinned. "Now let's go out to my TARDIS, shall we?"

 _There's another TARDIS out there._ Grace recalled. _What happened to this reality's Doctor?_

"You came in another TARDIS and parked it. What happened to the Doctor here?"


	6. Chapter 06: Departure

"This reality's Doctor died," explained the Doctor. "UNIT and Torchwood would stand alone to defend it if we left."

"That can't happen." Grace Williams glanced at her husband. "You know it can't, Jacob."

Jacob responded with a sigh. "What can we do?"

"We can't leave it defenceless, and we've both had experience with different alien species."

"Not as much as the Doctor has," argued Jacob, though he had worked seven years at Torchwood in their home dimension. "Honestly, Grace, you can't expect us to go flying through the universe, can you? We both agreed that if Mia met an untimely death that we'd let the Doctor take us back home – to a normal life."

Grace let out a short laugh. "A normal life? We travelled with the Doctor, and I spent most of my childhood on Katuria." As the offspring of a royal Katurian mother and a human father, Grace lived with her mother for most of her formative years. "How could we ever hope to have a 'normal life'?"

"I dunno, but we could try!" Jacob protested.

The Doctor interrupted. "It's really a brilliant idea, but I should remind you that we accidentally entered this reality before, and it'll take a great deal of energy just to return home once. This decision would be, essentially, permanent."

 _I know that. But this is something we must do – create new echoes, just as you suggested._

Jacob spoke first. "How can you be so sure?" Dismay shone in his brown eyes. "We've waited so long to return home. We sacrificed our child's _life_ to go home someday. We're lucky it's before we died, and now you want to throw all that away. Do you really want to waste Mia's life, Grace?"

His words pierced her conscious. _I was so selfish. I shouldn't continue to behave selfishly, should I? I couldn't let her sacrifice go to waste._ Then, the guilt cleared and Grace experienced a moment of clarity. _I wouldn't be wasting my daughter's life._ "Go if you'd like, but I'm going to stay. It's the only way we can negate our selfishness – if we don't capitalise on our original intentions."

 _If I acted as the Doctor, I would have to teach myself to not care whether I live or die. It may be too late to save Mia, but I can still rise above the echoes of my past._

"Well spoken," the Doctor praised. "Jacob, what will you decide?"

Jacob huffed. "How can I go when my wife and daughter are staying?"

"I suppose it's settled, then." The Doctor backed through the archway, then turned when she entered the foyer.

"You're leaving without saying goodbye?" Grace called after the Doctor.

She spun on her heel and faced Grace. "Goodbyes are the hardest part."

"Well, you don't have to say goodbye, but at least let us see you off."

The Doctor tipped her head to one side, as if considering a protest, but relented. "Alright. Come along."

Grace Williams and her husband followed the Doctor out of the rickety house. As they passed Olivia, she too rose and fell into step behind her parents. All four descended the splintered wooden steps and crossed the yard. Beyond the rows of vegetables, the dilapidated shed leaned to the right.

The Doctor pushed open the rusted metal door and entered the dim structure. Dust particles floated in the slanting golden sunbeams produced by the late afternoon sun. Beyond stood a silver metal cylinder. "I'm back, old girl," the Doctor muttered. She turned to Grace, Jacob, and Olivia. "This is where I leave. Best of luck to you all." She pried open the door and stepped inside the TARDIS; the door snapped shut behind her. A moment later, however, the Doctor's head popped out from behind the metal door. "Catch!" She tossed a small device to Grace, who clasped it between her palms. "It's the sonic screwdriver."

"Thank you!" Grace called out in response but the door already closed.

Wind stirred; the TARDIS winked out of view. Grace, Jacob, and Olivia shielded their eyes with their hands as dust clouds were driven toward them. Grace strained her eyes as the outline of the TARDIS became vaguer and vaguer. When she could see it no more, she pleaded: _She may have once been my daughter, but she's the Doctor now. She's needed to save universes and galaxies. Please, let her get home safely._


	7. Chapter 07: Saturn

_I have an obligation to the universe._ The Doctor stared past her dangling legs to the dark expanse below. Something tightened in her chest. _I always have, and I think I always knew I did. All my life, I sought the truth._ She laid down and rested her head upon her hands. Darkness overcame the golden glow from inside the TARDIS.

From that darkness, three figures emerged. The Doctor recognised them as past incarnations of herself.

" _You do have an obligation to the universe_ ," said her most recent incarnation. _"But you do not have to go alone."_

The Doctor sat up and knew what the vision meant. She must find a companion, as the incarnations before her had. _What about Milo, my ancestor?_ The Doctor recalled how she met him on Earth's moon. No sooner than she considered him, she dismissed the option. _I rewound time. Those who descended to the lunar surface would surely all be dead. But I_ will _find someone._ She stood, having noticed a ringed planet in the distance, and drew the TARDIS doors closed before she walked toward the console. _I don't often visit Saturn._ The Doctor pulled around the screen, which provided the year: 2942. _Perhaps I'll take a stroll in the cloud gardens there – maybe visit a city or two._

With careful precision of the controls, she landed the TARDIS and stepped outside. Ammonia crystals from the clouds in the upper atmosphere were fashioned into clean shapes like topiaries. Stars twinkled overhead, barred by the planet's wide, arcing rings. Somewhere up there, she also knew, was the palace of the Earth Empire's Divine Empress.

"Who are you?" demanded a hostile female voice from behind.

The Doctor, with all deliberateness, turned. She recognised the woman who aimed a pistol at her. _Mae?_ Waves and braids appeared in her styled black hair; geometric shapes patterned the elaborate two-toned dress she wore. There was an obvious difference between the tired and dishevelled woman she met in the other reality, but both faces were identical. _Is she like Clara? Am I meeting another echo?_

"Who are you?" Mae jerked the pistol as though threatening to shoot. "What do you want with me?"

Her voice caused the Doctor to blurt, "The Doctor."  
"Doctor who?"

 _Every time._ "Just the Doctor." Mae refused to holster the weapon. "What's the danger here?"

Mae furrowed her brow. "What danger? Crews maintain these gardens hourly; there is no danger here."

"Well, most people don't wave a gun around for fun. Though I have met a few like that before." The words came quickly. "But you don't seem like you belong with that lot, being dressed as you are." She could not say: _I met an alternate version of you not so long ago and you didn't seem hostile then._ "So what are you so afraid of?"

Mae blushed, but she concealed the weapon in a secret pocket sewn into her dress. "I heard this – this rustling sound. Four times today. I thought it was – it might be – following me." Her eyes met the Doctor's. "Attempts have been made on my life before, but I suppose my imagination got the better of me today." Mae extended her hand, and the Doctor shook it. "Mehadi Sarkar."

"Where did you hear this rustling sound?"

"A few dozen metres back," Mae replied as the Doctor set off in the direction she specified.

"You said attempts were made on your life?" Mae trotted to catch up to the Doctor and came up on her left side. Her large, ornate jewellery _tinkled_ as they walked.

"Well, much as one might _try_ to please everyone as a Countess, it is impossible to do so." She sighed. "I came here to convene with the Divine Empress. My overcities seem more restless than usual, but I find the same is true here. Trouble brews everywhere in the Empire, it seems."

 _Does she know how soon it will collapse?_

"Best not to worry a great deal about it." The Doctor attempted to sound nonchalant. Alerting people to future catastrophe produced a host of problems. "Troubles come and go, but you humans always sort it out in the end."

Mae puffed out her chest. "We _are_ renowned for our resiliency."

But the Doctor scarcely heard her. Cloud hedges to the right rustled; wisps of ammonia floated upward, disturbed by the sudden movement. The Doctor withdrew her sonic screwdriver from her pocket and approached the hedge. "I know you're in there. Come out, whatever you are." More movement, then a sturdy shape erupted from the opposite end of the hedge, fled across the crystal path like a silver blur and disappeared into the adjacent hedge. _Is that what I think it is? How's that, though?_

"It looked like a dog and rat hybridised, whatever it is," Mae commented with a shudder. "But I don't know of any dog with that many legs. What do you think, Doctor?"

The Doctor scowled. "It looked like something that doesn't belong here."

"And what would that be?"

"A woprat," the Doctor answered with a glance at Mae. "They come from my home planet, though they'd been extinct for some time before I was born. I saw one once, but that was a long time ago." When the Doctor saw Mae's brow furrow as though she wanted to ask the Doctor to define 'a long time ago,' she changed topics without a pause. "Did you see how silver its fur was? It must be old." She chuckled. "I remember that much from school."

Mae propped one hand on her hip. "Saturn does have a zoo of exotic and formerly extinct species from across the Milky Way. Perhaps someone managed to recreate your woprat. I've never been, but I suppose it could have escaped its enclosure."

The Doctor shook her head. "No. My species is gone. It has been gone for millennia." She was glad that her memories of the Time War no longer felt raw. "By the time you reached the stars, Gallifrey had long since disappeared from the sky."

"Not us. Another species."

"One with technology capable of manipulating time." A question formed in the Doctor's mind. _The Time Lords are separated from the rest of time. Who stole our technology before the Time War and delivered it to a third party?_ Her stomach churned. _What will they do now? Is this the first step in a much larger plot?_

More rustles arose from the hedge. _The woprat must be burrowing deeper into the hedge._

"Doctor," Mae hissed, "I think it might be on the move."

"Good."

"What?"

"This is an extinct species, Mehadi; whoever's resurrected it isn't going to let it go so easily. They're bound to come looking for it sometime. The sounds will let them know it's here, so the woprat's going to lead us directly to the responsible party." The Doctor ducked around the hedge, and beckoned to Mae. "Well? Are you hiding or not?"

* * *

 _Admittedly, this was a poor plan._ Both the Doctor and Mae had crouched behind the cloud hedge for hours. The sky paled from black to indigo as the sun rose. They had migrated down the hedgerow when the scuffling sounds of the woprat grew fainter. _But I won't admit that. I need to know how this woprat arrived here._

Mae ran her fingers through her hair; more greasy black strands unravelled from her tight bun and headdress. Earlier she had removed her stilettos, complaining of discomfort. "Do you know what time it is?" Dark circles ringed the underside of her eyes; she had rubbed at her painted lids and complained that they ached. "I scheduled a meeting with the Divine Empress for sometime this morning."

"Go, then. I can't know when they'll come."

Mae half-stood. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I really wanted to help you."

As she brushed ammonia crystals from her black-and-white dress, three figures entered through a simulated wrought iron gate. The Doctor seized Mae's wrist and pulled her down.

"Ow!" Mae hissed. "What, are they here?"

One of the three was a reptilian; two were human males. All were clad in formal attire, but they parted ways soon after they entered. Each prowled along the imitation cobblestone path, eyes hungrily scanning the hedgerows and flowerbeds.

The reptilian produced a small wooden object and blew into one end. A prolonged chittering note came from the object which ended in a sudden _yip_. _He's using it to communicate with the woprat like a birdwatcher might use a birdcall._

Squeaking, the woprat burst from the hedge. One of the humans, who had withdrawn a burlap sack from the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket, lunged and the woprat vanished beneath the mouth of the sack. The Doctor wanted to rescue the woprat; she tensed all her muscles so as to prevent herself from confronting the three strangers. Fifteen tiny paws scrabbled at the sides of the bag; squeals of panic split the silence as the woprat panicked in its confined space.

"This is horrible, Doctor!" Mae gasped. "What can we do to help?"

The Doctor tersely responded, "Wait."

All three strangers leaped into the nearest hedgerow. No sooner than they disappeared, the Doctor stood and raced to the hedge, Mae on her heels. Compacted clouds blinded the Doctor but she pressed forward until she cleared the tattered hedge. Now, she stood on a narrow ledge. Beyond, the cloud layer ended and presented a precipitous drop. The Doctor glanced left, then right. Parked at the right end of the precipice was a red spaceship. _I can't let them get away!_ The Doctor sprang into pursuit, but her trainers sank into the soft clouds below. Already, the hatch _clicked_ open and the strangers clamoured inside the small craft. Once inside, the hatch began to close and the spaceship began its ascent.

"Don't!" Mae shrieked. "Don't do it! We'll find some other way!"

The Doctor jumped from the edge of the cloud and caught hold of some landing gear. _Too late._ She located her sonic screwdriver in her jacket pocket and pointed it at the hatch, which promptly flew open. The Doctor released her grip on the landing gear and landed on the first step. "Jump!" she shouted down to Mae. There was a high probability that the whistle of the wind and the grinding of the engines would mask her voice. "I'll catch you!"

 _Will she trust me?_ Mae grimaced, but obeyed. The Doctor caught her outstretched hand. For a moment, Mae screamed as she dangled over nothing but clouds. Pieces of her gilded headdress came loose and plunged into the abyss below. _There's nothing below that would break her fall. But I won't let her fall._ The Doctor doubled over and pulled Mae up by her forearms. While Mae lay, panting, on the steps, the Doctor used her sonic screwdriver to close the hatch.

"What do we have here?" wondered the reptilian aloud.

One of the humans paced forward and bared his teeth. "Stowaways, I should think."

"Funny thing for a _thief_ to say. Do you even know what you have in that sack?"

The humans and reptilian exchanged glances. "Of course we do," growled the reptilian. "I suppose you must be the Doctor, if you care so much about the beast that's in this sack."

The second human snorted. "That ain't the Doctor. The Doctor's a _man_."

"Shush!" hissed the reptilian. "Don't you know the legends? Time Lords can change gender."

Though the second man rolled his eyes in response, the Doctor decided to seize the opportunity to ask questions. "Who do you work for? Who gave you Gallifreyan technology? How do you intend to use it?"

"Gave? We wasn't given nothin', lady."

"He's right," chimed in the first man. "But why should we tell you anything else? You both trespassed on our ship, and so you both will be meeting someone special for due punishment."

* * *

"This way." The reptilian gestured for the Doctor and Mae to follow him after they disembarked. Both woman proceeded down a narrow, grimy corridor that opened into a vast chamber. Inside the chamber were piles of gold and other assorted treasures. Old and new TARDIS models filled the space between bulging red-brown columns.

Mae gasped. "That crown belonged to the past Empress of the Earth Empire! No one knew its fate!"

 _What concerns me more is the amount of Gallifreyan technology here. Look at the amount and variety of TARDIS models here. Who acquired this many, and from where? Could it be the Master?_

Heavy footsteps resounded against the metal floor; a figure cloaked in shadow approached the Doctor and Mae. "Is what my men tell me true, Doctor?" boomed the figure before he stepped into the blue cast from a dimmed light somewhere overhead. The Doctor thought she ought to recognise his face but struggled to do so. "Are you a Time Lord?"

"Yes, and what are you?"

He spoke over her question. "And you are the very last of your kind, are you not?"

"If I was, would you include me to your hoard like you've done with the woprat?" Anger rushed heat through her veins.

The stranger snorted. " _Delyah_ has been my _pet_ for millennia. I treat her as best I can." As he spoke, the burlap sack _rustled_. The Doctor and Mae turned to see it rise from one man's clenched fist and open. The woprat emerged from inside and floated across the room before landing softly beside the stranger's right foot.

"You are a Gallifreyan from _before_." The Doctor understood now. Before the rise of Time Lord society, some Gallifreyans exhibited psychic powers.

"Before your kind _destroyed_ the planet with your science, yes." His jaw muscles tensed. "I swore to kill every last one of you. And that's exactly what I'll do to you before I go back to destroy all the rest of the Time Lords." A knife broke from one of the treasure heaps; the stranger directed the blade to rest against the Doctor's throat. "Our resistance may have failed before, but it will not now that we turn their own weapons against them."

 _Could this be Egalim?_ As perhaps the most trusted of the Pythia's generals, his massacres of technologists and civilians alike became infamous. _I thought I read once that he had telekinesis too._ Those memories were so ancient that she could not be certain. _And didn't they imprison him somewhere on Gallifrey?_

"Humour me before I die, Egalim. Tell me how you escaped your prison and the time lock."

Egalim scoffed. "I heard how you used the Moment. Everyone feared you then, but you've always been a coward. You're afraid to die, so you want to bait me into talking while you form a plan!"

Mae began to unholster her pistol. "Put that away, please," urged the Doctor.

Compliance, however, was not on Mae's mind; she began to raise the pistol. "I won't allow you –!" the Countess shrieked as the reptilian tackled her, though a grunt ended her sentence as the breath was driven from her lungs.

A single shot ricocheted around the walls and floors after the pistol _clattered_ to the tarnished floor. It struck something flammable behind Egalim, which promptly exploded. The force knocked down the ancient Gallifreyan and disrupted his mental connection to the knife, which fell away from the Doctor's throat.

More explosions rocked the chamber. The Doctor pulled Mae to her feet – the reptilian had already fled and she had partially sat up whilst rubbing her sore chin – and both bolted from the nearby danger. Neither stopped running until they reached the red spaceship. Its hatch was closing, and so they both clamoured up the narrow stairs.

While Mae doubled over and panted, the Doctor approached a port window in the ship's curving hull. Orange flames licked from the mouth of the narrow corridor into the docking station. _That means everything inside the chamber should be destroyed. Egalim and all those TARDIS models should be gone. However he managed to escape, Gallifrey should be safe now._ A few niggles of doubt stirred within her, but she attempted to disregard them.

* * *

"Let me come with you." Mae pleaded. Both she and the Doctor stood outside the TARDIS after their recent escape from the henchmen's spaceship. "I know that as a Countess, I have responsibilities, but surely someone would assume I went missing after I didn't show for my consultation with the Divine Empress this morning. I could _vanish_."

The Doctor frowned. Though she did not object taking Mae as a companion, she did object to the excuse. "Doesn't your empire monitor movements with cameras?"

"Yes." Mae sighed. "But anywhere in time and space? I would be a fool not to seize that opportunity. What few vacations I've had aside, I hardly left my family's overcities since my childhood. I almost _wanted_ the trouble." The Countess clenched her fists. "I hated myself for that."

The Doctor pushed open the door. "Come inside then. Your people shouldn't have a leader who doesn't want to lead."

Mae squealed, "It's bigger on the inside! How's that possible?" and pushed past the Doctor, who suspected her excitement overwhelmed any offence she might have taken from the comment. "Do you have a telephone? I need to contact someone about my decision."

"Over there." The Doctor gestured to the console with one hand and shut the door with the other. "It's rather small and looks like a black rectangle." Mae nodded and headed in the indicated direction; the Doctor called after her, "Make sure you select the correct date. There's no historical boundaries to it, provided the person you're trying to contact has a mobile on them."

Mae did not respond, though the Doctor overheard her mutter, "One of my brothers or sisters _must_ want my position."

 _Where to take her first? Earth before the solar flares, perhaps?_ She moved to the console and began to input the desired destination. _I'll place the TARDIS in orbit. It'll be like seeing it from an overcity – if humans had built them now, in 1832._

Mae set down the phone. "It's done. My brother will take my position." She paused. "Where are we now?"

"Open the doors and see."

"But won't we be sucked out into space?"

"The TARDIS has an air bubble around it. You can look out safely." Mae approached the doors. "Oh, and another thing. Mae. Do you mind if I call you Mae?"

Her brow furrowed but she replied with a deliberate voice, "It might complicate things to keep my name, wouldn't it?" Mae then turned and continued toward the doors. When she opened them, she gasped. "That's Earth, isn't it? Before the flares? It's beautiful!" Mae glanced back over her shoulder. "Thank you so much for bringing me here!"

The Doctor smiled, but a small _blip_ returned her attention to the console. An onscreen alert read: _TARDIS in the vicinity._

 _Egalim escaped the fire somehow._ The Doctor refused to recognise the possibility of a glitch. "Get inside!" she ordered.

Mae slammed the doors shut. "It's him! He's opened the door and has got something large with him!"

The Doctor yanked levers and flipped switches as she ran around the console. _We need to escape._ A large object rammed against the TARDIS doors. _What weapon has he got?_ All the cloister bells began to ring and the controls froze. The TARDIS descended toward the Earth's surface in a tailspin.


	8. Chapter 08: Repetition

**TW: suicidal thoughts and actions**

* * *

Smoke billowed across the Kansas cornfield. The boy who had flattened himself against the ground upon impact pushed himself upright with his palms so that he sat with his knees buckled beneath him. Two women staggered from the grey haze a moment later. Instinctively, he stood and ran toward them. "What happened?"

"A crash," responded one with ash blonde hair. She laughed. "Oh, he thought he'd kill us, but he was wrong."

Neither seemed to bear any wounds, though he still politely asked, "Are you alright?"

The other woman, her black hair snarled, merely coughed in response, as though she had inhaled too much smoke.

 _No woman I've seen dresses like that._ The woman with ash blonde hair wore pantsand a blouse patterned with bright pink umbrellas. The woman with black hair wore a form-fitting black-and-white dress that scarcely reached her kneecaps. It glittered like gold in the faint sunlight filtering through the smoke. _They look pretty rich. Maybe some Indians held them for ransom? But they somehow managed to escape._

"How old are you?" asked the woman with ash blonde hair.

"Twelve," he responded.

"Seems about right. Now, about that knife. Don't you think you're a little young to be holding a knife like that?"

The shiny silver metal suddenly seemed scalding; the boy dropped the knife. He intended to drive it through his chest before he heard what he thought to be the heavens splitting. After a bad bout of influenza eradicated his family and then a drought, coupled with scorching temperatures, destroyed their crops, he could no longer afford to keep the family home. _I want to be with my family again, not move to the city and live with my kin._

"I won't ask what you meant to do," continued the woman as she stooped down to his level. Her eyes, pale with a touch of brown around the pupil, radiated nothing but patience. There was no chastisement, only curiosity. "But I can see your sadness, and I know it feels." She extended her hand, and the boy shook it. "I'm the Doctor. I can help you."

"Nelson Houck," he replied. "That's my name."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Nelson." The Doctor gestured behind her to the second woman. "That's my friend, Mae."

Mae smiled, although the action seemed forced. "Hi," she choked out.

Beyond them both, the smoke began to clear. Nelson strained his eyes against the haze and thought he saw a large object in the distance. Its edges were sharp like a box's. "What's that?"

"Ah, that." The Doctor said. Nelson started as he realized he had spoken aloud "That's my TARDIS."

"TARDIS?" The word felt strange on his tongue.

"It's an acronym. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It can take you anywhere you want."

"Anywhere?" Nelson felt breathless. Entranced, he stepped toward the blue box looming out of the smoke. The sounds it made echoed his rapid heartbeats. Something about the repetition soothed the dull ache in his chest. This Doctor brought hope.

The Doctor and Mae came up on either side of him, but it was the Doctor who said, "You can't stay where you are. So where do you want to go first?"

* * *

 **A/N:** This concludes _Echoes_.


End file.
